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| THE WINGS (FROM BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN) |
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 ONE HUNDRED FAMOUS VIEWS OF EDO (TOKYO) NUMBER THIRTY |
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| Plum Estate, Kameido |
| Shown here is the "Sleeping Dragon Plum," (Garyubai) the most famous tree in Edo. By far the most unusual feature of the Garyubai was its peculiar manner of growth, by which certain branches spreading out from the original trunk would droop low to the ground, enter the soil, and re-emerge at a distance to create new trunks.
In this manner the tree was constantly rejuvenated and by Hiroshige's time had spread over an area some 50 feet square. The image of the "sleeping dragon" came from the way in which the reproducing branches looped across the ground. This print so caught the attention of Vincent van Gogh that he executed a careful copy in oils in 1887. The contrasts between the copy and the original are instructive; whereas van Gogh's colors impart a sense of passion and youthfulness, the subtly muted green, rose, and gray of the original create a farm more sedate effect. The Sleeping Dragon Plum survived as the central attraction of the Plum Estate in Kameido until it was killed (or at least fatally damaged) by the great flood of 1910. Today nothing survives except a stone roadside marker in a sea of small factories and shops. |
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| There were two Civil War battles fought at Lexington, Missouri. The First Battle of Lexington--also known as the Battle of the Hemp Bales--was an engagement of the American Civil War, occurring from September 13 to September 20, 1861, between the Union Army and the pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard, in Lexington, the county seat of Lafayette County, Missouri.
The State Guard's victory in this battle bolstered the already-considerable Southern sentiment in the area, and briefly consolidated Confederate control of the Missouri Valley. Following their victory at Wilson's Creek on August 10, the pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard, having consolidated its forces in the northern and central portions of the state, marched on Lexington under the command of Maj. Gen. Sterling Price. On September 10, 1861, Col. James A. Mulligan arrived to take command with his 23rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. On September 11, the 13th Missouri Infantry (USA), Van Horn's Battalion of the United States Reserve Corps, and the 27th Missouri Mounted Infantry arrived, after having evacuated Warrensburg in the face of Price's relentless advance. Mulligan now commanded 3,500 men, and quickly proceeded to construct extensive fortifications around the town's Masonic College, cutting down trees to make lines of fire and erecting earthworks around the dormitory and classroom buildings. His superiors dispatched further reinforcements under Samuel D. Sturgis, with which Mulligan hoped to hold his enlarged position, but they were ambushed by pro-Confederate forces (alerted by a secessionist telegraph tapper) and compelled to retreat. Price and his army arrived in Lexington on September 11, 1861. However, they failed to launch an assault until two days later, by which time the Federal works proved too formidable to be easily taken. On September 13, six companies of the 13th Missouri Infantry (USA), supported by two companies of the 1st Illinois Cavalry, battled Price's advance elements among the tombstones in Machpelah Cemetery south of town, hoping to buy time for the rest of Mulligan's men to complete their defensive preparations. Price had intended to overwhelm the Union garrison in one quick rush, but their stubborn defense of the cemetery caused his troops to exhaust much of their ammunition. This development combined with the redoubtable nature of the Union fortifications to render any further assault impractical. Price's artillery now commenced to shell the Federals. Having bottled the Union forces up in Lexington, Price decided to await his ammunition wagons, other supplies and reinforcements before assaulting his opponent. "It is unnecessary to kill off the boys here," said he; "patience will give us what we want." Accordingly, he ordered his infantry to fall back to the county fairgrounds. By September 18, Price had determined to order a new assault. The State Guard advanced under heavy Union artillery fire, pushing the enemy back into their inner works. Price's cannon responded to Mulligan's with nine hours of bombardment, utilizing heated shot in their endeavor to set fire to the Masonic College and other Federal positions. Mulligan stationed a youth in the attic of the college's main building, who was able to remove all incoming rounds before they could set the building ablaze. This engagement should not be confused with the Second Battle of Lexington, which was fought on October 19, 1864. That battle also resulted in a Southern victory. |
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| The main battlefield in the Battle of Lexington I where Confederates climbed the bluffs of the Missouri River to defeat the Union positions who had set up hemp bales in the field. |
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| Anderson House, a Union hospital, was attacked by Confederates during the battle. |
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| Lafayette County, Missouri Courthouse where a cannonball during the Battle of Lexington I lodged |
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| BATTLE OF LEXINGTON II IN MISSOURI |
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| THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON II IN MISSOURI CHARGE OF THE IRISH REGIMENT (COLONEL MULLIGAN) OVER THE BREAST-WORKS AT LEXINGTON, MISSOURI |
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| THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON II IN MISSOURI THE REBEL EX-GOVERNOR JACKSON, OF MISSOURI, ADDRESSING COLONEL MULLIGAN'S TROOPS AFTER THE UNION SURRENDER AT LEXINGTON |
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| SEAN CONNERY (Caricature) |
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| Many presidents have used the "Resolute" desk in the White House. After becoming trapped in Arctic ice, H.M.S. Resolute was salvaged by an American vessel and returned to the UK.
The desk was subsequently made from its timbers and presented to President Rutherford Hayes by Queen Victoria in 1880. |
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| Meriwether Lewis was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, on August 18, 1774, the second child and first son of William and Lucy Meriwether Lewis. His father, who had served as a lieutenant in the Continental Army, died in November 1779 after his horse fell into an icy stream while he was homeward bound. His widowed mother married another Army officer, Captain John Marks, six months later. The two raised Meriwether and his two siblings while managing a 1,000-acre plantation about 10 miles from Monticello (Jefferson's home). The young Lewis was said to have an eye for plants, which was encouraged by his mother Lucy, a noted herb doctor.
Lewis joined the U.S. Army in 1794, serving six years in the Frontier Army and rising to the rank of captain in 1800, then serving as paymaster of the First Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army. In early 1801, Lewis was appointed by President Jefferson to be his personal secretary. Lewis was a childhood protege of Jefferson's, and they renewed their bond years later while Lewis was on army duty in Charlottesville, Virginia. There is no doubt that part of Jefferson's reason for appointing Lewis to this position was political; like Jefferson, Lewis was a firm Republican. Later, Jefferson would write that "[Lewis] was brave, prudent, habituated to the woods & familiar with Indian manners and character." At Jefferson's direction, Lewis planned an exploration of a route west to the Pacific coast of North America, whose stated "aim would be to make friends and allies of the far Western Indians while at the same time diverting valuable pelts from the rugged northern routes used by another nation [Britain]. . . and bringing the harvest down the Missouri to the Mississippi and thence eastward by a variety of routes." During the journey, the expedition would also gain much-valued knowledge of continental geography and wildlife. In early 1803, Congress approved the expedition, which would be the first in series of military explorations launched by the U.S. government. Lewis possessed many intellectual and physical qualities, which were refined during additional training prior to the start of the expedition. Physically, he was in superb condition, over six feet tall with a lean frame. Given his army conditioning, he was fiercely loyal, disciplined, and flexible, yet was also prone to being moody, speculative, and melancholic. |
His keen sense of observation and knack for writing detailed naturalistic and ethnographic accounts would prove to be invaluable for a man who would lead this strategically important expedition. Lewis had an especially sharp eye for the details of flora and fauna, which is reflected in his journals.
Immediately after Congressional approval, Lewis began preparing himself and defining requirements in terms of supplies and men who would be recruited to accompany him. Lewis learned the theories and practices of navigation first from Jefferson, then later from trained astronomers and cartographers in Philadelphia. He took in all the data known about the Western frontier at the time, including distances, topography, and potential enemies, much of which his expedition would end up revising. After the Louisiana Purchase was completed on April 30, 1803, it became more clear that the expedition was not simply charged with scientific inquiry, geographic mapping, and clearing the way for commerce. The mission was to be more diplomatic, in that it would require the explorers to communicate the transfer of sovereignty to every Indian tribe and foreign interest occupying the lands within the Missouri watershed. This increase in importance warranted a need for a second-in-command to be named to assist Lewis on the journey. Both Jefferson and Lewis thought of William Clark, under whom Lewis had served briefly during his army career. On June 19, Lewis penned a letter to Clark expressing his desire that Clark share the command of the expedition with him, and seeking Clark's help in populating the expedition with able-bodied and qualified men. Lewis and the President offered him a permanent commission as captain (jumping him up a full rank), with equal rank to Lewis should he accept the command. This offer was made to eliminate any tension that would result from the fact that Clark had been Lewis's commanding officer in the rifle company at Fort Greenville. Lewis asked that Clark respond to him in Pittsburgh, where he would be readying boats and supplies for the journey. On July 29, Lewis received Clark's response: "My friend I assure you no man lives with whome I would perfur to undertake Such a Trip &c as your self." |
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| Libby, Montana Documentary Aired 2007 on PBS |
A film detailing the saga of asbestos contamination in Libby, Montana was featured on the PBS television series P.O.V. at 10 p.m. on August 28, 2007. Produced by Drury Gunn Carr and Doug Hawes-Davis, this documentary chronicles Libby's legacy of environmental pollution from the former W.R. Grace & Company vermiculite mine. The film juxtaposes Libby's idyllic setting in the Rocky Mountains with community-wide exposure to a toxic substance. |
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| Kootenai River Between Libby and Libby Dam |
| Libby, Montana takes a long working-day's journey into a blue-collar community and finds a different reality--one where the "American Dream" exacts a terrible price.
The film also raises questions about the role of corporate power in American politics and environmental pollution that extracts its highest costs from ordinary citizens. In Libby, 70 years of strip-mining vermiculite ore and marketing a product called Zonolite exposed workers, their families, and thousands of residents to asbestos fibers associated with the vermiculite ore--creating what the Environmental Protection Agency has called the worst case of industrial poisoning of a whole community in American history. |
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| Libby Dam and Lake Koocanusa |
| Libby, Montana is first of all the story of an ideal American community in what early explorers called "the land of the shining mountains." Nestled below the rugged peaks of the Northern Rockies, along the crystal-clear Kootenai River, Libby is the archetypal backpacker's, hunter's and angler's paradise, as well as a picture-perfect example of the American wilderness that environmentalists want to save. At the same time, the town's remoteness and economy of logging and mining nurtured conservative, self-reliant family and community values. |
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| Kootenai River Between Libby and Troy, Montana |
| But Libby, Montana is also the story of an ideal betrayed in a way that crosses political lines and raises alarming questions about the role of corporate power in American politics and the environmental pollution that extracts its highest costs from ordinary citizens.
As in Libby, where 70 years of strip-mining an ore called "vermiculite" and marketed as the wonder material "Zonolite" exposed workers, their families, and thousands of residents to a toxic form of asbestos, creating what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has called the worst case of industrial poisoning of a whole community in American history. That this poisoning continued for more than 30 years after W.R. Grace knew of the dangers--as now charged in criminal indictments going to trial this fall--is made patent by the film even as the company raises a curious no-denial defense. But don't weep only for Libby; an estimated 35 million homes in the U.S. contain Zonolite insulation. For the citizens of Libby, mining vermiculite provided decades of good jobs and national attention as the source of 80 percent of the world's vermiculite production. The mineral was first extracted and developed into the multi-use material, Zonolite, by a local mining engineer in 1919. In 1963, industrial giant W.R. Grace acquired the Zonolite Company, and the mining went into high gear, as did the marketing of Zonolite as a wonder material--especially for insulation. Yet within two years of acquiring the mine, Grace's internal memos show the company discussing the mine dust's extreme toxicity--information never given to employees. As far back as the mid-1950s, the Montana State Board of Health had warned of the dangers of asbestos dust and listed "tremolite" (a form of asbestos that was naturally occurring in the vermiculite ore) as one of the most dangerous classes of asbestos fibers. Tremolite, in fact, is considerably more toxic to human health than the more common "chrysotile" asbestos (the commercial form of asbestos). |
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| Yaak River Near Libby |
| In Libby, the mining jobs brought an inescapable dust that choked the men at work and, proving impossible to wash off, was tracked into every home in town. The citizens of Libby not only mined the material but also showcased its use, insulating their homes with it and laying down sports fields, ice rinks and other community surfaces with the mine's materials.
Mineworkers say they were told the dust was no more dangerous than field dust, and felt relieved they weren't mining notoriously toxic asbestos. Even as respiratory problems in the town mounted, often misdiagnosed as heart or other unrelated ailments, the true scale of the health crisis, especially the degree to which it had crept into the lungs even of Libby's children, remained hidden just below the surface. State and federal inspections repeatedly cited the mine in the 1960s and '70s for its toxic dust cloud and the inadequacy of the company's response. (Miners found that the respirator masks the company provided clogged within minutes and had to be discarded.) The company produced an internal study in 1969 demonstrating how deaths from unspecified "lung disease" rose steadily with years of employment, topping out at an astounding 92 percent for 20-year employees. Still the company said nothing publicly. In some of Libby, Montana's most remarkable archival sequences, a visibly shaken Earl Lovick, the mine's former head manager, explains in a legal deposition the company's logic. Sick himself from "lung disease," Lovick points to the respirators as proof that the company took the hazard seriously -- and to "common knowledge" as sufficient for informing workers of the dust's hazards. Many on-site managers were dying in the 1990s; Lovick died in 1999. But the people of Libby, as one dying former employee bitterly complains, are working people, not engineers or scientists; they trusted the company. By the time the EPA began screening Libby residents in 2001, over 1,200 people of those tested, or roughly one-quarter of the town's population, were found to have lung abnormalities associated with asbestos exposure -- 10 times the national average. |
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| Kootenai River Near Libby |
| Mesothelioma, a form of cancer caused only by exposure to asbestos, was found to be 1,000 times the national average. And because of the long latency period for asbestosis -- as much as 30 years or more -- the future for Libby's residents is clouded by the specter of disease and early death -- however successful current efforts to clean up the town have been.
In examining the politics behind the cleanup, as well as behind Grace's historic ability to disregard worker health, Libby, Montana raises its most troubling questions. How could Grace go on operating the mine for another 20 years after the environmental toxicity became public knowledge? (It was finally closed in 1990.) Even in pro-business Montana, how could state officials continue to cover for a company that declared bankruptcy to avoid liability claims as it allegedly spirited away billions of dollars? By what final cruel twist does the National Priorities Superfund designation sought by townspeople as the only means to fund the cleanup -- and opposed by Grace and local business interests -- become the very means by which Grace finally abandons the town to taxpayers? |
The directors of Libby, Montana use archival footage, news reports and the words of a range of participants in Libby's tragedy--from ex-miners and mine managers and their families to Earl Lovick to EPA field workers to the state's governor, Judy Martz, and then-EPA chief Christie Todd Whitman.
One demand of Libby's beleaguered citizens has been belatedly met, in good part because of this film, according to many commentators. In 2005, seven Grace executives were criminally indicted for knowingly endangering the residents of Libby--a case due to go to trial this fall (2007). Says co-director of High Plains Films Drury Gunn Carr: "Even as we documented the history of the town and the clean-up efforts, the story of Libby took on a larger life as Congress was forced to consider what to do about the millions of homes and other buildings in the U.S. filled with vermiculite from Libby." Adds co-director Doug Hawes-Davis: "Libby is a hard-working, blue-collar community that personifies the American Dream, but the story we had to tell was about the dream gone horribly wrong. Industrialists, politicians, workers and ordinary citizens all play a role in this American tragedy." FROM HIGH PLAINS FILMS |
| More Pictures of the Libby Area | |
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| Yaak Falls | Yaak River |
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| Ross Creek | Baree Creek |
| In 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice began criminal proceedings against W.R. Grace. On February 7, 2005, the department announced that a grand jury in Montana indicted W.R. Grace and seven current and former Grace executives for knowingly endangering residents of Libby, Montana, and concealing information about the health effects of its asbestos mining operations. According to the indictment, W. R. Grace and its executives, as far back as the 1970s, attempted to conceal information about the adverse health effects of the company’s vermiculite mining operations and distribution of vermiculite in the Libby, Montana community. The defendants are also accused of obstructing the government’s cleanup efforts and wire fraud. To date, according to the indictment, approximately 1,200 residents of Libby area have been identified as suffering from some kind of asbestos-related abnormality.
The criminal trial began in February 2009 after years of pretrial proceedings which reached the United States Supreme Court.[18] By the time the trial was set to begin, one of the defendants, Alan Stringer, had died of cancer. On Friday May 8th 2009, W.R. Grace was acquitted of "knowingly" harming the people of Libby Montana. David Uhlmann, a former top environmental crimes prosecutor has been quoted as saying about the W.R. Grace: "There's never been a case where so many people were sickened or killed by environmental crime." The W.R. Grace case has long festered in the court system on a 10-count indictment including charges of wire fraud and obstruction of justice. W.R. Grace has voluntarily paid millions of dollars in medical bills for 900 Libby residents. |
| Photographer, conservationist; born in San Francisco. A commercial photographer for 30 years, he made visionary photos of western landscapes that were inspired by a boyhood trip to Yosemite. He won three Guggenheim grants to photograph the national parks (1944--58). Founding the f/64 group with Edward Weston in 1932, he developed zone exposure to get maximum tonal range from black-and-white film. He served on the Sierra Club Board (1934--71). |  |
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| GRAND CANYON, SOUTH RIM |
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| SKATERS--A SCENE ON DUDDINGTON LOCH Charles Joseph Staniland |
| DISCLAIMER: Material used in Bitts and Bytes is gathered from various sources--mainly the World Wide Web.
Authorship cannot always be credited nor the source defined. Authenticity of material is assumed to be correct, but is not guaranteed. |  |
